France, June 7-14, 2009

A surprise winner on a surprising parcours?

Contador, Valverde, Evans and Basso versus 'the new generation' in the Alps

During its previous 60 editions, the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
has never travelled far from its roots. The headquarters of the daily newspaper
of the same name emanating from the French Alps is in Grenoble, where the race
will once again end on June 14; the event's start is dictated by commercial
reasons, however.

The start in Nancy arises from the fact that the publication now belongs to
a group that owns almost all the regional newspapers from the north to the south
east part of France. This city, the capital of the Lorraine region close to
Germany, will host an unusual prologue - a 'long', opening 12-kilometre test
against the clock on an undulating course.

From the start, the favourites will provide an indication of their condition,
despite the fact that the Dauphiné can often be a topsy-turvy race. As
a pre-Tour de France event, it combines riders who are ready for the main period
of the season with others who are preparing but who don't give their all or
refuse to show all their cards and their real form.

Alberto Contador is the first name on the lips of those selecting the favourites.
"The Dauphiné is a very important test for me," said the Spaniard,
who has been on site earlier than his rivals. He went to reconnoitre the Alpine
stages of the Tour de France and could already feel the 'heat' of the Dauphiné
a week before the race.

As usual the event features the biggest climbs in the second half of the week.
Stage two to Dijon in another regional capital known for the wine and the food
of Burgundy is designed for the sprinters. That's where everybody will be curious
to see Tom Boonen in action. The Belgian is on a mission to convince the organisers
of the Tour de France to let him race this year despite another out-of-competition
drug offence.

He might have two chances to score as stage three takes the bunch to Saint-Etienne
via smoother terrain than usual. It will be the 25th visit of the Dauphiné
to the town that used to be the home of the French bicycle manufacturers. Local
rider Cyril Dessel will do his best to restore the good image of his AG2R-La
Mondiale team, which has only one win this year - Rinaldo Nocentini's stage
at the Tour of California.

The fourth day follows the Dauphiné formula with a reasonably long individual
time trial - race organisers Thierry Cazeneuve and Charly Mottet want to concentrate
all the ingredients of the Tour de France in one week. A 42km course in Valence
will not only be a test for Contador, who will have the 40 km ITT in Annecy
at the Tour de France in mind, but it may provide Linus Gerdemann with the chance
of shaking up cycling's current hierarchy.

While Contador is making his return to competition after a seven-week break
that followed his Tour of Basque Country win, Gerdemann has the rhythm of racing
in his legs and the feeling of success. He recently won the Bayern Rundfahrt
as Alejandro Valverde claimed the overall win at the Tour of Catalunya. Valverde
is the defending champion at the Dauphiné, having beaten Cadel Evans
last year.

Le Dauphiné

It's a 'mini-Tour de France' and another much-loved French race organised
by a newspaper.

Just as the L'Auto newspaper instituted the Tour de France in
1903 to boost circulation, Le Dauphiné Libéré is the publication
behind the pre-Tour warmup held in the second week of June.

The newspaper represents the Rhône-Alps region and the race is a representation
of the aspects that make La Grande Boucle great. The parcours
runs through the areas covered by Le Dauphiné Libéré's pages; some
of the best territory to host a major cycling tour.

There's something for sprinters, time trial specialists and the climbers,
with swings in the race leadership expected and a few surprise packets
unveiled.

He appears at the top of his game but awaits a decision from the UCI relating
to an extension of the ban he faces in Italy to other nations; with this in
mind he is in doubt to start the Tour de France. He'll be happy to have the
constantly-efficient support of Oscar Pereiro, who is making his return to the
Alps after his dramatic crash on the col dAgnel during last year's Tour
de France.

With Contador, Valverde, Pereiro and Evans, the fifth big name for overall
honours at the Dauphiné is Ivan Basso. Frustrated over his performance
at the Giro dItalia where he rode well and finished fifth but didn't collect
the success he expected, the Italian wants to profit from the condition he has
after his national Tour before taking a break in July. The Tour de France is
not in the picture for him this year. He is looking at the Vuelta and the world
championship at the end of the season.

The Dauphiné offers this quintet enough climbs to express itself and
makes for great racing. On Thursday, the race will return to the Mont Ventoux
after a year's absence, which is another warm up for the Tour de France. La
Grande Bourcle is also returning to the Giant of Provence on the penultimate
day this year.

Stage six includes the Izoard prior to the uphill spectacular finish in the
'gargouille' of Briançon's old town. Stage seven is even more gruelling,
with the Galibier (on the easiest side), the Télégraphe and the
Croix-de-Fer before the finish - never done before - in the station of St-François-Longchamp,
five kilometres from the top of the col de la Madeleine.

The is a fabulous occasion for the young climbers to challenge the established
champions: Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas), Dan Martin
(Garmin-Slipstream) who was the runner up at the Tour of Catalunya, Jacob Fuglsang
(Saxo Bank), Rémy Di Gregorio (Française des Jeux), Amaël
Moinard (Cofidis) and Pierre Rolland (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) - who was the king
of the mountains at the Dauphiné last year - all have the chance to stamp
their mark on the world of cycling. Their time has come.